Everybody writes their life. But the authenticity, permanency, and strength of the ink varies greatly from person to person. This three-level post series is inspired by Inky Johnson’s talk below, and is about using indelible ink when writing the story of your life.

Inky Johnson (9:26) – “I ask people one question all the time – ‘Like, what is it you want? What do you want?’ People – ‘Aw, I want money.’ I’m like – Cool. Alright. Yep. I’m like, but the true measure of your wealth is if you got it and you lost it, then how much would you be worth? Meaning how much is your character and your integrity worth? Because that’s the most valuable possession that we’ve got.”

In order to stroke your life with indelible ink, there are stages to enter and master. Unfortunately, most people falter even at the initial level because of misguided priorities. As I emphasized in previous posts such as Hold Your Pen Tight and Do You Know Who You Are?, the toughest and most important battle of one’s life is staying true to one’s self. The silly part is that many people don’t even enter the battlefield, so they’re not even in The Fight.

Certain people may be so solely inspired by The External – and so solely motivated by external things – that they are willing to relinquish a part of their internal soul. They may lie to someone else, lie to themselves, chase something that won’t last, etc. In the long run, the ink this person uses to write her life will be unrecognizable – either literally due to fading or from the vantage point of her own eye. You don’t want to be that person who looks back on his life and says, “Naw, that’s not my writing,” and shakes his head in disbelief.

Therefore, master level one. Prioritize your character and integrity before all else. This will fortify your ink and ensure it is derived from real sources and not artificial ones. It will truly be your ink. If one opts to not prioritize commitment to self, nothing after this level is relevant. Because if you’re not writing in your own ink, why does it even matter what you write? 🤔

Tupac Shakur (0:21) – “A lot of people – Black, White, Mexican, young or old, fat or skinny – have a problem being true to they self. They have a problem looking in the mirror and looking directly into their own souls. The reason I sell $6 million records, the reason I can go to jail and come out without a scratch, the reason I can walk around, the reason I am who I am today is because I can look directly into my face and find my soul. It’s there; it’s not sold. I didn’t sell it. It’s still within me. I still feel it. My heart is still connected to my body.”